Reading quotation

I've been reading mostly junk books lately. That's not to say that they aren't entertaining, but they don't have much in the way of pertainant selections that I can quote here. But I feel bad about having kind of flaked out on that part of my blog habits, so I'm posting a Dave Barry (Pulitzer Prize winning journalist) quote, even if it's not technically from a book.

Gravity is the biggest drawback to skiing. Without gravity, it would be a carefree activity: You'd put on your skis, head for the slopes and just . . . HOVER for a while. Then it would be time for "apres ski'' (French for ''no longer skiing''). Instead, you have gravity. Huge amounts of it. Ski areas are located smack dab on top of giant gravity piles called "mountains.'' Most areas also use machines to make more gravity at night. Thus powerful forces are always trying to suck you, the skier, down the mountain and into large fixed objects such as buildings. This is why the Number One Rule of Skiing Safety is: "Never go up the mountain without a good reason, such as it is summer.''

This not only sums up my reasoning for never having learned to ski (despite living in the Utah area on and off for 9 years), but also my reasoning for never doing any activity that might attempt to thwart gravity. That includes running, skipping, dancing, jumping, and hiking. I'll admit that I occasionally fly in airplanes, but that's only in emergencies (or when someone else is buying the ticket).